


a forever that we both can share

by perksofbeingaiko



Series: a forever we both can share [1]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 12:16:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7103011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perksofbeingaiko/pseuds/perksofbeingaiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>It was supposed to be his and Robert’s stag party before their wedding.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Robert had thankfully suggested the trip to Vegas, and once Vic got wind of the idea, there was no stopping her. And Aaron had yet to meet the person who was able to resist Vic’s wide-eyed begging.</em>
</p>
<p>Robert and Aaron aren’t the types to get wasted and party, even for their own stag nights, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to make the most of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a forever that we both can share

**Author's Note:**

> *shows up 2 weeks late with a fluff fic*
> 
> AKA: I've lived in Vegas all of my life, and when Ryan mentioned a Vegas wedding for Robron, my brain exploded, and I felt a sense of duty to write _something_ for it, even if it's not ~exactly~ the Vegas wedding they intended.
> 
> Title from “Tell Me” by He is We

Aaron pushed the door open to their suite, sending a silent _thank you_ up to whomever was listening for allowing him to marry someone smart enough to own a timeshare so that they wouldn’t have to stay in an overpriced hotel for the night, especially on such short notice in Las Vegas.

He cringed at the thought.

“Come on mate, don’t just stand there, my feet are killin’ me,” Adam complained from behind him, shoving him inside the suite. Robert had gotten them two rooms with a shared kitchen and sitting area, despite the trip only lasting one night. Adam moved passed him to the room on the left, his luggage and Victoria’s suitcase in tow while Vic and Robert nagged at each other about their itinerary.

It was supposed to be his and Robert’s stag party before their wedding. But with a married couple being your respective “best men,” it had turned into a second honeymoon for Adam and Vic as well. Still, Aaron didn’t mind. It was worlds better than Chas’ idea that Cain organize his stag do, no doubt involving something:

**A)** illegal  
**B)** mentally or emotionally traumatizing  
**C)** embarrassing  
**D)** all of the above

Robert had thankfully suggested the trip to Vegas, and once Vic got wind of the idea, there was no stopping her. And Aaron had yet to meet the person who was able to resist Vic’s wide-eyed begging.

He took Robert’s bag off him and moved to the room on the right, the room slightly bigger because it was _their wedding, thanks_. His first thoughts were that the room was very…clean, with stark white sheets fitted neatly into the bed and abstract art above the bedframe that Aaron squinted at, trying to understand, but gave up just as quickly. He dumped their bags on their respective sides of the bed, just like they would have in their own bed at home, and peeked into the bathroom, testing faucets and checking for any weird leaking that they’d have to pay for.

Aaron always checked compulsively, no matter how many times Robert told him to leave it. But a year of a shared bank account wasn’t going to suddenly make him easy-going with spending, his mind already telling the voice that sounded a lot like Robert’s in the back of his mind that was saying _unless it comes to Liv, then it’s just open pockets and soft hearts abound_ to shut up.

Eventually, Robert followed into the room, shutting the door and dragging Aaron to the bed by the waist, pulling him down to sit beside him before leaning in for a kiss, his hands automatically cupping Aaron’s cheeks like always, and making Aaron melt _like always_. Robert pulled away with a yawn, eyes watering from it.

“Yeah, thanks. Really boosting me self-esteem here,” Aaron teased, standing and toeing off his shoes.

“Oh, c’mon, you know I’ve been up since five coordinating things,” Robert argued, unbuttoning his shirt as he kicked his own shoes off. Vic had steadfastly wanted to avoid jetlag, their bodies thinking it was 9 PM when the clock on the bedside table flashed that it was only 11 AM in Vegas. She had scheduled them a nap like they were toddlers, and, again, there was really no arguing with her.

“Don’t know, sure it’s not just your age? Can’t keep up like you used to?” Aaron winked, shoving the blanket aside and crawling into the bed, the sheets weird against his skin the way hotel beds always seemed to feel, no matter how nice they were.

“Hush. You’re nearing 30 every day, Dingle. We’ll see who’s keeping up then, won’t we?” Robert said, extending his arm out for Aaron to fall into place against his chest. At the beginning, Aaron couldn’t sleep cuddled up that close to someone. Robert’s body heat would make him too warm, he’d been afraid to keep Robert up with all his shifting, and Robert would tend to wake up with dead arm from Aaron laying on it. But with time came comfort, and also the knowledge that proximity was the only way to keep Robert from kicking and for Aaron to know he wasn’t alone on nights where he’d wake up in cold sweats.

It just worked for them.

Aaron kissed him on the jaw and settled in, letting the comments about his own age slide without fuss. He knew Robert wouldn’t be teasing so much when he was 40. Or 50. Or, God forbid, 70.

Aaron couldn’t keep the smile off his face, knowing he’d be right there when the time came to always remind Robert that he was the old one in their relationship.

One minute they were bathing in the bright early afternoon light, and the next Aaron was fumbling for his phone to silence his alarm, the room nearly dark as the sun was setting. Robert groaned and turned over, pulling the blanket away from Aaron and shoving it over his head. Aaron shook what he figured was Robert’s shoulder before getting out of bed himself, heading for the shower to wash away the airplane smell and grogginess from his nap. _How do kids do this all the time? Naps are the worst_ , he thought to himself as he blearily fumbled with the unfamiliar taps until he felt the water finally pour from overhead.

Robert had joined him five minutes later, forehead resting on Aaron’s shoulder as he whinged about “Vic and her stupid itinerary” and “if it were up to him they would have just left earlier from home and gotten a _decent_ sleep once they had gotten to the room, but _no_ Vic needed more time to pack” while Aaron just rolled his eyes and started making work shampooing Robert’s hair.

********

By the time the four of them had collected themselves into the shared spaced of their suite, it was already 5:45 PM and Vic was shooing them out of the room, complaining about being hungry the whole way down the lift and in line waiting for the shuttle to take them to the Strip. Robert had planned all the travel and dinner reservations, because apparently Adam’s only job as best man was to make sure that Aaron got spectacularly wasted but didn’t end up married in a dingy Vegas chapel.

Vic’s job was to make sure they all got where they needed to go in one piece. Aaron’s job was just to make sure he didn’t get lost.

The shuttle van dropped them off in front of the Luxor, and Aaron cursed the mid-June Las Vegas heat - _it was evening for God’s sake_ \- as he pretended that he wasn’t burning up in his hoodie while Vic and Adam took picture upon picture of everything they passed on their walk, from the Excalibur castle to the street performers on the pedestrian bridges, to the grown men in Power Ranger costumes that tourists _paid_ to take pictures with, for whatever reason.

Aaron watched the people they passed by, other tourists taking in the sights or parties led by bored locals who obviously did not want to be there. He had to admit, the Strip was impressive. He’d never been anywhere with so many artificial lights and neon signs before, and the ringing and blaring music coming from each hotel they passed was dizzying. He was mildly concerned by just how many children there were being towed along by their parents on a Friday night, but _whatever, it’s their prerogative_.

They’d passed a line of men flicking cards with pictures of nude girls at them before Robert finally led them inside one of the buildings that Aaron didn’t have the time to catch the name of, but the lobby had smelled like someone pumped vanilla into the air to mask the smell of smoke and alcohol that the casino seemed to permeate.

At every turn there were large groups of girls with glittery tiaras exclaiming “Maid of Honor” or “Bridesmaid” and Adam had just nudged at Aaron, waggling his eyebrows while he mimed for Aaron to get one of the veils that read “Bride to Be!” with cheap white tulle hanging off the back. Aaron pushed him away with an “Oh, piss off,” before Vic and Robert pulled them into the restaurant.

********

Three rounds of overpriced shots, a couple of beers, and an unnecessarily large novelty cup that was one part alcohol, one part food coloring, and about five parts ice that Vic had insisted on -

_”It lights up!”_ she had said, like that was some sort of selling point.

\- and Aaron was finally starting to feel more comfortable on the busy pavement, moving along with the masses from one casino to another. They had caught the tail-end of the water show at the Bellagio and decided to wait the fifteen minutes for the next one, grateful for a place to lean that wasn’t overcrowded. _Well, for now_.

He let Adam pull him into a few photos while they waited, shots of the four of them with the Paris hotel as the backdrop and a few lined up against the stone railing of the fountain. Looking around, about five other groups were doing just the same, so Aaron just rolled his eyes and allowed it, even smiling genuinely in them. It wasn’t that he wasn’t having a good time, he just didn’t see the point in photographing every moment of it. _Each their own, or whatever._

Two girls dressed as showgirls walked passed them, stopping to drape multi-colored beads onto Adam, the only one of their group managing to really get into the spirit of the Vegas nightlife. He whooped, and several strangers around them whooped along with him, everyone loose and laughing. There were men pushing flyers for some nightclub to Vic, winking to her about a lady’s discount, and a group of what sounded like Finnish tourists huddling into the space beside Aaron, talking loudly and quickly to one another.

The opening horns to “Big Spender” finally started, and the fountains came to life, and Aaron had to admit, it was worth the wait. Mostly because it was free, but it wasn’t really like they had many opportunities to see dancing fountains looking like a person doing high kicks very often back home, so he just settled into Robert’s side and watched. Robert wrapped his arm around Aaron’s shoulder, and they both spared a glance around, making sure they weren’t being judged for it. Not like they would have stopped cuddling if someone had a problem with it, but they were in a strange city with hundreds of people they would never see again, and the edge of _are they watching?_ would maybe never go away.

Once the music died down, the crowd around them began to disperse, making way for new groups of people to wait for the next show. Robert removed his arm from Aaron’s shoulder, squeezing his waist before letting his hand drop completely. Aaron smiled at him. He couldn’t think of a time when he would ever get sick of the casual little touches Robert would give him, just to let him know that, even though they weren’t the hand holding kind of couple, it didn’t mean Robert wasn’t always just an arm’s reach away.

A group of guys blew past them, all in matching shirts and singing way too loudly, despite being outdoors. Most likely not a stag party, but rather a 21st birthday judging by the way they were catcalling every girl that walked by. Or, maybe it _was_ a stag party, and the groom-to-be was just a dick.

_Really likely._

The whole walk through the botanical gardens, Adam had complained about the “severe lack of gambling” they were – or, rather, weren’t – doing.

_”What’s the point of being here if we aren’t going to gamble? We’re too young to just be here to sightsee- Oh! Babe, check out the frog, it’s all flowers!”_

That’s how Aaron found himself at an Indiana Jones slot machine, Harrison Ford’s voice saying the same phrases over and over on loop between loud dings and flashing lights as he fed the machine his money. Vic was somewhere around, choosing a machine that shouted _Wheel! Of! Fortune!_ that Aaron couldn’t stand. Adam had dragged Robert off to a blackjack table last he saw them, but a cursory look around found them at a roulette table, Robert smirking at Adam who was halfway leaned over the table to watch for his number, the group shouting in his favor once the ball stopped rolling, so Aaron let them be.

Aaron really didn’t have a problem with just sightseeing, but at least Robert and Adam were bonding. Adam had been great about including Robert in conversations and things of the sort, figuring they didn’t have much of a choice since they had lived together and were technically family. But Aaron still appreciated it, anyway. One less person he had to constantly mind whenever Robert was around.

He felt arms resting on either side of his shoulders, Vic propping her chin on Aaron’s head as she watched him at the machine, apparently tired of her own. They both decided to call it quits when Aaron lost _again_ , deciding instead to join their boys who had moved back to the blackjack table.

“Adam, c’mon. I’m tired of this, and we’ve got plans,” Vic said, keeping her distance from the table when the dealer warner her away.

Adam groaned at whatever the dealer must’ve flipped for him, and Robert got out of his seat and pulled him away by the shoulders. “Looks like your luck is running out,” he joked, and Adam faked a laugh with an exaggerated _ha ha_ before leading Vic over to the chip exchange, Robert and Aaron following behind.

“Win anything, then?” Aaron asked.

Robert made a vague hand motion, which didn’t really answer the question, and let Aaron lead them through the crowds of people loitering in the walkways. They waited beside the exchange line, leaning against a pillar, Robert absent-mindedly bringing his hand up to the back of Aaron’s neck and massaging while they both looked up at the architecture of the casino.

“Right, so Adam and I have got our tickets for the High Roller, so we’ll be off. Both of you, please,” Vic said as they joined them, folding her hands together in mock-prayer, “answer your phones if we call. Last thing I need is for one of yous getting drunk and trying to recreate The Hangover, alright?”

Aaron scrunched his face in confusion, but it was Robert that asked, “Sorry, what do you take us for?”

“Well I don’t know,” she argued.

“Yeah, ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ don’t it, mate?” Adam teased.

“Alright, do one, I’m tired of lookin’ at you,” Aaron said, pushing at Adam’s shoulder. Adam grabbed Vic’s hand as he laughed, pushing Aaron back before pulling Vic away, her shouts of “just answer your phones!” drowned out by the commotion of the crowd.

Aaron turned back to Robert, exaggerating an eye-roll that made Robert laugh gently, which in turn made Aaron smile. They laughed more, nowadays. Robert had always been able to make him smile, even – or, rather, _especially_ \- when he didn’t particularly feel like smiling, but now they could just _laugh_ together and joke and nothing was loaded and things were finally just _easy_.

He knew, realistically, with the lives they had, “easy” wasn’t going to last long, but right now, at that moment, Aaron was completely content knowing that he was with the man he loved and was going to marry, and that, like always, when anything came up, they’d take it on together. As a team.

“So, the world’s your oyster. Anything you wanted to do?” Robert said, gesturing around at the eyesore of a city once they had walked back down the bridge beside the fountains.

“What? You haven’t got anything planned in that schedule of yours? Who are you, and what’ve you done with Robert ‘controls-every-detail’ Sugden I’m _supposed_ to be marrying?” Aaron asked with faux confusion.

“I don’t control _every_ detail. I just like to be prepared for every outcome and stay ahead. What’s wrong with that?” Robert defended, and Aaron just put up his hands with a downturn of his lips, miming himself backing away from the argument. Robert was quiet for a moment, before finally saying, “Well, I _did_ have something I wanted to do” -

“Ah, there he is!” Aaron interrupted, pointing his finger at Robert’s face, but Robert just continued, swatting at his hand with a laugh.

“ _But_ , it’s just a suggestion. You might not be up for it, but just hear me out.”

“Well, I’m not havin’ sex with you in public, if that’s what you’re thinking. A guy’s gotta draw the line somewhere,” Aaron teased, but again, Robert ignored him.

“What’s the one thing everyone kept telling us _not_ to do while we were here?”

“Pay over fifteen dollars for a drink? Sorry to remind you, but I think Vic’s light-up cup already put us in the hole for that.”

Robert just stared at him for a beat before dropping his head, and Aaron couldn’t hear him well, but he caught the words “Fireball” and “chatty drunk” being whispered before Robert raised his head, fixing him with a look. “ _No_. Your mum, Diane, Pearl, Finn,” Robert listed, ticking them off on his fingers, “they all _specifically_ told us not to get drunk and get married in a Vegas chapel.”

It was Aaron’s turn to stare at him now, the both of them just standing there until the opening notes to the next fountain show started, breaking Aaron out of it. “So, you want us to get married,” Aaron said slowly, clarifying, “in Vegas? _What_?”

“Of course not! We paid way too much for our wedding, and you know I can’t get those deposits back. _No_ , what I’m saying is that we make them _think_ we got married. It’s legal in America now so it’s not like they’d turn us away,” Robert suggested, and Aaron could tell he was getting excited by the idea of it. He had to admit, the look on his mum’s face would be great, and he was absolutely ready to pay money for the look on Vic and Adam’s faces when they realize they were supposed to be the supervision that _prevented_ this exact thing from happening.

Aaron shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Yeah, alright, I’m in. But how do we even do it? It’s not like there’s _actually_ any chapels round here.”

“Ooh, that’s not true. What about the one we saw in the food court wedged in next to the Pizza Hut and gift shop? Real classy, that is,” Robert said, and Aaron scoffed. “But, actually, I may have already coordinated something. Just in case you went along with the idea.”

“So, you’ve actually put thought into this?”

Robert shrugged. “Well, yeah. I wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass. Look, we’ll need to go now if we’re going to get there in time. Scheduled it for when I knew those two would be gone.”

That’s how Aaron found himself 15 minutes to 11 PM in the back of a taxi after a 20 minute wait, nearly slapping Robert’s wrist every time he would check his watch, and driving away from the Strip to a brown chapel boasting itself the “Little Chapel of the West,” heavy emphasis on the little. The whole chapel held about 6 rickety pews, a squeezed in keyboard piano, two hired witnesses, and a tired looking officiant who smiled warmly at them when they arrived.

No Elvis impersonator, but they would make do.

Robert shook the man’s hand, reminding him that they were just there for photos, not an actual ceremony. The officiant laughed, the sound echoing against the old wood. “At least you paid us. Most people just try to hop the fence.”

They posed for the photos outside the chapel, with a few of the two of them standing before each other at the altar. Aaron froze for a second, the weight of the fact that, in a few days, this whole thing wouldn’t be a joke; the way they were standing, with Robert’s hands holding Aaron’s and an officiant to his right, Robert’s face most likely a mirror of his own, flicking through his own sudden realizations – this was all going to be _real_.

The camera flashes stopped and Robert cleared his throat, thanking the officiant again while Aaron shook the man’s hand, and it was over. The camera man promised to email the photos in two days’ time, and they were back in the taxi, ignoring Vic’s spam calls, sending her a text that they had just gone back to the timeshare, not wanting to make excuses for why they were arriving back at their meet-up spot in a taxi rather than on foot.

She’d sent them a winking emoji back, no doubt thinking they were taking the time to make the most of their room, and, well, _not a bad idea_ , Aaron thought as he pushed Robert onto the bed.

********

“-and it was so beautiful, Diane. I’ve never seen so many lights before, it was like you could see the whole city from up there,” Vic gushed, going on and on to both Diane and Chas about the Ferris wheel while they flicked through her photos.

“Why didn’t you and Robert go?” Chas asked, directing the question to her son who frowned his lips and shook his head.

“Because we’re boring?” Aaron answered, pinching at Liv’s side when she stage-whispered “too right.” Robert came up front to the bar from the back, holding his tablet like he’d just seen a ghost, and _Oh, alright, its go-time_.

“What’s wrong with you?” Liv asked, and Aaron pinched her again before she could start listing everything she could think of.

“I’ve, err. I’ve just got some photos emailed to me,” Robert said, passing the tablet over to Aaron with a wink before letting his face fall again. Aaron took it slowly, biting his tongue trying not to laugh.

They’d probably exaggerated the photos a bit much. They tried to look like they had been drunk, but had overshot it and looked completely off their face, eyes heavily lidded and posture slumped. The officiant played his part in looking put-out by them, grimacing in the photos.

Aaron widened his eyes in false shock, whispering “Oh, God,” before Chas pulled the tablet from his hands, Diane and Vic huddling closer to look. She’d nearly dropped it as all three of their eyes widened in _true_ shock before the shouting started.

“This had better be a joke!” -

“We left you for, like, five seconds!” -

“How could you two be so irresponsible?” -

Aaron was ready to let it go, but he knew Robert. This wasn’t over yet.

“Look, look. I’m sorry, alright? _We’re_ sorry,” he added, gesturing to Aaron who kept his head bowed. He couldn’t look his mum in the eye or he’d break, and hopefully she was taking it as shame. “But what’s done is done. We’ll just tell everyone the wedding is off. I’ll call the caterers, see if they can stop what they can. Cake’s probably done by now, though, so I guess we’ll just eat that together and call it a day?”

If there was one thing that could be said about Robert, the man knew how to make a lie sound genuine.

“You can’t be serious! You’ve already paid for your suits, and I’ve already paid for my dress,” Vic complained while Chas just stood with her hand on her hip, staring at Aaron, and Diane looked panicked, looking back and forth between Aaron and Robert, like she was begging Aaron to say something.

Liv had just sat there, scowling at Robert, but it was hard to say if it was from his words, or just her default look around him.

Aaron sighed loudly and rubbed at his eyes before looking up at his mum. “He’s right, aren’t he? We’re already married, we can’t just get married again.”

Chas flung her hands up, “Like hell you can’t. You are my only son, and you are not denying me your wedding, do you hear me?” _Great. Guilt._

“Mum-“

“Alright, I think that’s enough,” Robert said, moving around the bar to stand between Aaron and Diane’s barstools, hands on both of their backs. “Chas looks about two seconds away from punching me in the face, and I’d rather our _real_ wedding photos not having me sporting a bruise, if that’s alright with you.”

Vic blew out a breath while Diane asked, “So, you _are_ getting married tomorrow, right?”

“Course we are. The photos are fake,” Robert answered.

“Yeah, we didn’t somehow manage to get drunk, find a proper chapel, and get married in the hour Vic and Adam were away,” Aaron chimed in.

He flinched back when both Chas and Liv smacked him with their hands, knocking into Robert who had shied away from Diane and Vic who had done the same to him.

“Right, you,” Chas said, pointing to Vic, “take this one,” she turned, pointing to Robert, “and get him out of our sight until tomorrow. You,” she added, pointing to Aaron, “get yourself upstairs and call Adam. The pre-wedding separation officially starts now.”

“Mum, it’s only 10 in the morning, don’t you think it’s a bit too early for all that?” Aaron tried to argue, but was cut off by Chas’ look. He shrugged into himself and followed her pointing finger into the back, sparing a last look at Robert until tomorrow.

When they’d be getting married.

_For real._

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve got most of their _actual_ wedding also written, so if y’all would want that as a second chapter, let me know :)
> 
> As always, I’m at [strongboyfriends](http://strongboyfriends.tumblr.com) on tumblr, and I’m taking fic requests.


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